NHL Trade Grades: Blues Acquire Mason McTavish for Draft Picks From Ducks

Here's how crazy today has been: The Anaheim Ducks are trading a former third-overall pick for two first-round picks, and it's not even the first or second biggest move of the day.

On most other days, this is the headline story. The implications are pretty sizable for both teams.

What kind of gamble are the Blues taking on a young center who hasn't lived up to expectations? Were the Ducks right to pull the plug on their former top prospect? Let's assess McTavish's game and grade the move for the Blues and Ducks

St. Louis Blues

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Mason McTavish, 23, is a heavy center who drives offense. He's strong along the walls. His compete level is at the top of the charts. McTavish is a very good puck passer who can also finish around the net. He had a career-high 22 goals and 52 points in 2023-24.

The big problem is his skating. McTavish is slow. Like, really, really slow. The straight-line speed is below average, and he takes a while to get going. It hurts him in transition. He lags behind on the backcheck. He's late to his coverages in the defensive zone. To realize his upside, he needs to improve his skating to some degree and learn to compensate for heavy feet through better positioning and anticipation. Last season, he was, statistically, one of the worst defensive forwards in the NHL.

I do think there are mitigating circumstances that excuse some of his failures. The Ducks, in general, have not been a good defensive team, and McTavish spent a lot of time playing with Beckett Sennecke and Cutter Gauthier, who are two young players finding their way in the NHL and not (at least yet) suitable defensive forwards.

Speaking of those two, Sennecke and Gauthier are good skaters who operate well off the rush. McTavish is not built for that. Maybe he never lives up to his third-overall status, but I think a lot of his problems could go away by playing in a role (and with players) that better suits his style.

The trade value is okay, but both the Bruins and Rangers paid similar prices for more established top-six forwards in JJ Peterka and Pavel Dorofeyev, respectively. I also wonder about McTavish's fit in St. Louis specifically. The Blues already have a similar young center in Dalibor Dvorský; big and strong, drives offense, but questionable skating.

Do I like McTavish's odds of panning out better than the combined value of the 15th and 29th overall picks? I do. He's already a third-line caliber center and, at 23 years old in a different environment, could push into a top-six mold. The Blues do need young NHL-caliber players, so the fit is there as well. But the trade market suggests the Blues should not have had to pay this price.

Grade: B-

Anaheim Ducks

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I don't think the Ducks utilized McTavish well or put him in a position to succeed. Among the already cited reasons, the Ducks never added a real veteran center who could take on tough minutes.

Regardless, he clearly had fallen out of favor in Anaheim, and maybe he isn't a good fit for how the team wants to play. The Ducks do have a lot of cap space, but getting out of his $7 million cap hit over the next five seasons makes sense as well.

The Ducks earned the 15th and 29th picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, and the trade was reportedly conditional to Nikita Klepov's availability at 15th overall. Klepov is a well-rounded winger who put up 97 points in 67 OHL games last season. He is the type of player who wants the puck on his stick in the offensive zone and he connects well with his linemates and can operate both as passer or shooter. He has top-six upside and, while he wasn't the top player on my board available at the time (that would be Ryan Lin), Klepov is an appropriate prospect to take at 15th overall.

The Ducks made the playoffs last season, albeit in a very weak Pacific Division. They used both first-round picks (taking Marcus Nordmark at 29) but the team, overall has a lot of young talent from which to now hit the trade market and try to add some NHL talent.

More pertinantly, they save face with the departure of their former third-overall pick and get strong value for him while they still could.

Grade: B+